The Naked Time
by TreeOfLife1997
Summary: When the Enterprise is assigned a new mission, it doesn't take Jim long to work out something is wrong. When Spock leads a team to the surface of Psi 2000, only to find a group of dead scientists and the life support systems switched off, it's not long before the crew start going mad. Jim and Spock now face a race against the clock to save the Enterprise and McCoy to save its crew.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter One:

Stardate: 2258.168

Jim stared at the mission brief he'd just received from Pike. They had been tasked with picking up a group of researchers from the dying planet, Psi 2000, of which they would soon be in orbit of. They had also been ordered to record and document the breakup of the planet. It seemed like a routine mission until Jim began reading the details.

The research team hadn't been in contact with Starfleet for months. All attempts to contact them had been meet with radio silence. Jim orders were to send a small party down to the planet in order to locate the research team and return them to the Enterprise, where they would then be taken to the closest Starbase before being transported back to Earth.

Switching off his computer screen, Jim picks up his PADD and begins to draw up a list of possible candidates for the away mission. Pike wanted it to be a small team, no more than five team members. Spock would definitely be going, he was the Chief Science Officer and head of the science department.

Suddenly Jim's comm beeps and Jim quickly picks it up and flicks it open.

"Kirk here," Jim answers.

" _Captain,_ " A voice greets him. " _I need your help with something._ "

"What's up, Ben?" Jim asks, sitting forward in his seat slightly.

" _Antimatter,_ " Ben answers. " _There's error in the Antimatter system._ "

"Can't Scotty fix it?" Jim questioned, wondering why the Chief Engineer hadn't already began working on it. Scotty took great pride in the ship and nothing less than perfection was suitable at any given time.

" _Negative,_ " Ben replies. " _There was an accident. Scotty won't be back on duty until two days' time. I asked Chief Engineer Scott what to do and he told me to get you, as you were the only engineer he trusted with the ship while he was away… Everyone else are apparently idiots._ "

"He called you all idiots?" Jim asks, trying to hide his amusement.

" _He implied,_ " Ben sounded annoyed. " _So are you going to help me or not?_ "

"As soon as the ship makes orbit, I'll be down," Jim answers. "I need to brief the away team."

"Right, see you soon," Ben replies. "Finney out."

Jim snaps his communicator shut and picks up his PADD, as much as he wanted to go down to the planet with the away team, fixing the antimatter system was far more important and with the ship's Chief Engineer off duty for the next two days, it was more important than ever that Jim stay aboard the ship. Because if he hadn't chosen the command track he'd be the Chief Engineer right now, rather than the Captain.

Stopping next to the door to his quarters, Jim quickly pressed one of the buttons on the intercom on wall.

"First Officer Spock, Lieutenant Joe Tormolen, Lieutenant William Knight, Ensign John Bellah and Ensign Majel Moss please report to the briefing room in five minutes," Jim spoke into the intercom before leaving his quarters and heading towards the said briefing room.

)o(

Captain's Log:

 _We've just entered orbit around Psi 2000. The planet was once a tropical paradise, but now it's nothing more than an ancient frozen waste land. The planet is less than a day away from entering the first stage of its disintegration. Spock is leading the away team to the surface to retrieve the science team. Whilst I must remain aboard the ship in order to help Engineer Ben Finney fix the antimatter system._

)o(

Spock and the four other crew members chosen by Jim beamed down to the research lab the scientists had set up on the surface of the planet. The first thing Spock notice as they materialised was how cold the lab was. The walls and floor were covered in ice and icicles hung from the ceiling.

The life support systems appeared to have failed.

"Lieutenant Toromolen," Spock orders. "Check the life support systems."

"Right, sir," Lieutenant Toromolen salutes before hurrying off in the direction of the control room.

As Toromolen checks out the control room in order to find out what had happened to the life support systems, Spock orders the other three away team members to split up and find the scientists they had been sent down to the planet to collect.

"All life systems were turned off, sir." Toromolen informs Spock as he returns from the control room.

"Commander!" Ensign John Bellah slightly hysterical voice calls from somewhere deeper in the lab.

Both Spock and Toromolen hurry in the direction Ensign Bellah voice had sounded from and it didn't take them long to find him. Ensign Bellah was standing outside a doorway, looking pale.

"Commander," Ensign Bellah greets. "I found one of the scientists… She's dead."

Spock walked past Ensign Bellah and into the room. Lying on the floor was a middle-aged women with dark brown hair and dressed in a Starfleet standard issue science uniform. Kneeling beside her, Spock pushed back the frost covered hair which had fallen over her face. The women's neck was covered in bruises, similar to bruises Jim had on his neck after Spock, Nero and Ayel had all had their turns at strangling him.

"Someone strangled this woman," Spock informs Toromolen and Ensign Bellah, who were standing behind him.

"Commander Spock," Ensign Majel Moss appears in the doorway of the room. "We've found four bodies, sir!"

Spock gets to his feet.

"Lieutenant Toromolen, Ensign Bellah," Spock turns towards them. "See if you can locate any of the other scientists."

Spock then followed Ensign Moss to where the four other bodies had been found. The first body they reached was that of a man in his late twenties, sitting frozen solid at his station as if he'd been in the middle of working when he had suddenly been frozen solid. But to freeze in such a way took time, meaning the man must have sat there knowing he was freezing to death, but not doing a thing about it.

"The other three are back here," Lieutenant William Knight appears through the door leading to the scientists' personal living quarters.

Spock followed Lieutenant Knight as he led the way to the other bodies which had been discovered. If Spock had been capable of showing surprise, his jaw would have dropped at the sight of one of the dead scientists taking a shower fully clothed. The frozen water from the shower holding them in their upright position.

One of the other two scientists had countless wounds to their body like they had been beaten to death with a blunt object. While the other was found huddled in a corner, their face hidden in their knees and their arms covering their head, like they were cowering away from something.

On the other side of science base, Toromolen and Bellah were still looking for the other scientists, but couldn't find any sign of them. In the end they split up and once Bellah was out of sight, Toromolen pulled of one of his gloves in order to scratch an inch on his hand he had been unable to reach through the thick material of his bio-suit.

A sudden quake shakes through the building causing Toromolen to lose his balance and reach out to grab a nearby console in order to keep his balance. But unknown to him, his hand comes in contact with an orange liquid, hidden on the underside of the console, which quickly dissolves into his skin. Toromolen quickly hurries to get his glove back on as the sound of footsteps echoes from the hallway outside.

Seconds later Spock, alongside Lieutenant Knight and Ensign Moss appear through the door way.

"The planet is becoming unstable," Spock spoke. "It is imperative we return to the Enterprise immediately."

)o(

Jim stood in front of the console, watching as the system error light continued to flash, but failed to show in which area of the system the error had occurred. Looked like he and Ben would be doing this the hard way. They now had the painstakingly long task of checking each and every part of the system one piece at a time until they found what was causing the error.

Jim had already done his shift on the bridge for the day, but he had been hoping to relax in the rec room before meeting up with McCoy when he got off his shift later and find an interesting activity to do. He'd even be thinking about doing some training with Cupcake in the ship's gym, as the two had often sparred together at the academy.

Jim glances at Ben for a moment before looking towards the antimatter system.

"So…" Jim mutters. "How do you want to do this? I start at the top, you start at the bottom?"

Ben stares at the antimatter system, before shaking his head.

"I'd rather stick together on this one," Ben answers. "I need someone to blame this on, if it goes wrong and if we're working separately, they'll know it was me."

"Oh ha-ha," Jim replies.

Ben grins at Jim, before picking up his equipment. "Well the sooner we start, the sooner we'll finish."

"Why? You in a hurry, Ben?" Jim asks, taking the warp drive offline so they can access the antimatter system safely.

While they were in orbit of Psi 2000, impulse power was more than capable of keeping the ship functioning as normal. But the warp drive would have to be back online by the end of the mission, they were on a tight schedule and any delays wouldn't go down well with admiralty.

"Expecting a call from my Mrs," Ben explains, as the two, of them head towards the antimatter system. "I missed her last call and let me tell ya, that didn't go down well at all."

Jim laughs. "I can imagine, especially since Ben Finney Jr. will be making an appearance soon."

"Oh don't remind me," Ben sighs. "It was bad enough being at the academy when Jame was born and being unable to return home in time for the birth… This time it's even worse!"

"Maybe we'll be back in time," Jim mutters, studying the antimatter system they had stopped in front of. "We've got what, about another three months out here, before we have to return to Earth or our overview?"

Ben shrugs slightly. "Maybe…"

Suddenly Jim's communicator sounds.

" _Spock to Captain Kirk,_ " Spock's voice sounds though the communicator.

"Kirk here," Jim answers, having pulled his communicator from his belt and flipped it open.

" _All the station personnel are dead, Captain,_ " Spock informed him.

Jim looks up at Ben, who gave him a slightly horrified look.

"What caused it?" Jim demands.

"The cause is unknown," Spock replies. "It's like nothing a Starfleet vessel has ever encountered before."

)o(

 **Hey, I hope you enjoyed the start of this story. I'm aiming to update this story once a week. So until next time,**

 **Blessed be,**

 **TreeOfLife1997.**


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter Two:

" _Transporter room to Captain Kirk,_ " A voice sounded through Jim's Comm.

"Kirk here," Jim answers, pulling his communicator from his belt and answering it as he continues to examine the antimatter system alongside Ben.

" _The away team have been beamed aboard and are being held in decontamination chamber as per First Officer Spock's request._ " The voice answers.

"Better have Medical look them over too," Jim replies, if Spock had requested decontamination even though it was automatic when returning from a foreign world, then he must have thought whatever had caused those scientists deaths could be contagious. "Tell Mr Spock I'll meet him in sick bay in half an hour. Kirk out."

Jim snaps his communicator shut and turns to Ben who grins at him.

"No rest for the wicked," Ben mutters.

Jim rolls his eyes, "Tell me about it. At this rate we'll still be trying to fix this system this time next week!"

"I think Scotty would have something to say about that," Ben laughs.

Jim grins, "You're right. He's back on duty in two days' time, he'll have this system fixed up in no time."

Ben nodes then frowns at the readout his scanner was giving him.

"Hey, Jim," Ben nodes at his scanner. "I think I've found what's causing it."

Jim glances over Ben shoulder at the scanner, "Hairline fractures. This isn't good."

Ben nodes his agreement and continues to scan system before him.

"This whole side is covered in them," Ben tells Jim staring at his scanner in disbelief. "How has the system checker only just picked up on this?"

Jim shakes his head, "Beats me. But one thing I know for sure, if the error report hadn't come through and the warp was activated, the resulting explosion would take out half the ship."

"Right," Ben agrees. "Well while you up in sick bay, I'll run a scan over the entire system focused on finding more fractures. By the time you get back down here, the computer should have come up with 3D model of where all the fractures are."

Jim nodes, "We should have time to do a second system check after its been fixed up. Wouldn't want to miss something and destroy the ship. Pike definitely wouldn't be impressed."

Ben snorts and shakes his head, before turning his attention back to the scanner which was giving out more readings. He shook his head in disbelief once more, how the system error alert had only just sounded that morning was alarming to say the least.

Jim walked back over to the antimatter console and picked up a PADD, he quickly update it and synchronised the data Ben's scanner was giving out with it. Scotty would be expecting an update and McCoy had confiscate Scotty's PADD after he attempted to 'improve' a piece of medical equipment with it.

"Ben," Jim calls over to him. "Keenser comes on duty soon, if I'm not back get him to help. Scotty trust him more than anyone else."

"Aye, Captain," Ben salutes, as Jim heads for the turbo-lift.

)o(

Doctor McCoy stood muttering to himself as he looked over the results from the away team. Other than Lieutenant Toromolen being slightly more jumpy than usual, there was nothing wrong with them.

Not even a scratch.

And it was annoying the hell out of McCoy, because the bodies of the dead scientists that had been beamed aboard had nothing wrong with them either, other than the injuries which had killed them of course.

"Morning Bones," An overly cheerful voice sounded from behind him, shortly followed by a hand landing on his shoulder.

McCoy turns and scowls at Jim, who just grins at him and carries on walking past. McCoy watches as Jim nodes a greeting to Spock and the away team and walks over to the bio-bed Chief Engineer Scott was sitting on.

"Scotty!" Jim greets sounding even more cheerful and upbeat.

McCoy was sure Jim did it on purpose. Jim seemed to have a sixth sense when it came to the Doctor being in a bad mood. So when McCoy was in a bad mood, Jim always seemed to drop by acting like his cheerful obnoxious self. But McCoy couldn't stop the corner of his lips twitching upwards slightly, Jim was like a ball of sunshine, he always had the ability to brighten a person's day.

His cheerfulness was infectious.

Maybe it was a disease, McCoy mused, before turning his attention back to his PADD in a slightly better mood than before. Jim glances over his shoulder at McCoy and grins before handing Scotty the PADD he had bought with him. Scotty quickly looked over the report and begins muttering to himself.

"Ah told Starfleet ye cannae expect a ship which has just escaped a spontaneous black hole…" Scotty muttered. "Ye cannae expect it tae embark on a new mission without a thorough inspection 'n' retrofit."

Jim grins at Scotty and glances round the medical bay, he catches Spock watching him and Spock inclines his head slightly. Jim makes his way over and reaches the bio-bed just as Dr McCoy approaches.

"Mr Spock," McCoy greets, a hint of displeasure in his voice.

Jim rolls his eyes. McCoy was going to have to get over Spock nearly strangling him soon or things were going become complicated. Jim didn't want to get rid of either of them, but if their dislike of each began to effect the running of the ship, Jim would have to get rid of one of them.

Or both of them.

"Your pulse is two hundred and forty two. Your blood pressure is practically non-existent, assuming you call that green stuff in your veins blood…"

"The readings are perfectly normal for me, Doctor," Spock answers, giving McCoy what could only be described as a Vulcan glare. "And as for my anatomy being different from yours, I am most pleased."

Jim couldn't help it, he snorts with laughter, causing both McCoy and Spock to look at him. McCoy simply glared at him, but Spock raised an eyebrow slightly.

"How are they?" Jim asks, once he composes himself and nodes to rest of the away team.

"They're fine, Jim." McCoy answers. "And so are the bodies recovered from the surface. I can't find a damn thing wrong with them apart from the injuries which caused their deaths. It's the strangest thing…"

"It was terrible, Captain," Toromolen calls across the medical bay. "They were just sitting, like they didn't care… Whatever was happening, they didn't care. I keep wondering…"

"You keep wondering if what happened to them will happen to you?" Jim guesses glancing at him. "If this was what happens when you send too long out in the black?"

Toromolen stares at Jim before nodding.

"As long as you are a part of this crew, that'll never happen to you," Jim reassures him. "Any of you of you for that matter. We are team, we are a crew and we always look out for each other."

The away team nodes and Jim smiles at them before turning back to Spock and McCoy.

"Any guesses, Mr Spock?" Jim asks. "Any idea of what happened down there?"

"I wish I could say, Captain," Spock answers. "The circumstances were quite unusual, however the security tapes recovered from the surface may show us something."

"Six dead," Toromolen mutters to himself. "Six people dead."

"Lieutenant Toromolen," Jim turns towards him. "Take a couple of days off and get some rest."

"Yes, sir," Toromolen answers.

Jim shares a look with McCoy who nodes.

"Lets get those up those tapes set up, Mr Spock," Jim turns to Spock. "We'll see if we can find any answers there."

Jim and Spock quickly leave together, McCoy watches them go with a slight shake of his head.

)o(

Captain's Log:

 _The science party we were sent here to pick up have been found dead. The life support systems had all been switched off. All the scientists we found were dead and only some of them had frozen to death. Conditions in which some of them were found were highly unusual to say the least. For the time being, we are remaining in orbit to complete our mission, to record the break-up of this seemingly cursed planet._

)o(

"It's almost as if they've been drugged," Jim mutter in slight disbelief as the security recording finished. "An engineer sitting there, apparently oblivious to everything. A woman strangled by a fellow work colleague, who seems unaware they're actually strangling someone… Almost as if they didn't know it was her at all. Another who simply watched it all like it was some sort of game show."

Spock nodes slightly, "He used the computer room as if it were an amusement gallery."

"And a fully clothed man frozen to death in a shower," Jim shook his head slightly. "If the image wasn't so ugly, it would be laughable… Any theories, guys?"

"Definitely not drugs or intoxication," McCoy answers. "The autopsies show their bloods was clean. The bio-analysis on the tapes prove that conclusively."

"It could be some form of space madness we've never heard of," Jim guesses.

"It would have to have been caused by something," Spock pauses for a second. "Our spectro-readings showed no contamination, no unusual elements present within the station."

"Or at least none the tricorders could register," Sulu adds.

"Instruments register only those things they're designed to register," Spock agrees. "Space still contains an infinite amount of unknowns."

"The Earth Science department needs the closest possible measurement of the breakup of this planet," Jim mutters almost talking to himself. "To do this, we need the Enterprise in a critically tight orbit. But at the moment I'm not so sure that's a good idea, even if it is what've been ordered to do… Could what happened down there to those people infect our crew? Getting as close as we been ordered to is already putting this vessel in a lot of danger we can't afford this… Space madness to effect the crew, it'd doom this ship and everyone aboard it."

"We will need the crew working at top efficiency, Captain," Spock agrees.

"It'll be a tricky orbit," Sulu adds.

"When zat planet begins to break apart," Chekov explains. "Zere will be sudden changes een ze grawitational pull of ze planet."

"So basically when we're in a critical orbit, there's no time for surprises," Jim mutters. "Brilliant. This day just keeps getting better and better."

"The engines have more than enough power to get us out of the planets gravitational pull," Sulu points out. "We'll be able to warp out of orbit as soon as you give the command."

Jim laughs, but it had no humour.

"If that were only true, Mr Sulu," Jim shakes his head. "If the warp activates now, it'll blow up half the ship. The warp drive won't be back online until the antimatter system is fixed. It should take us a few hours to get it fixed up, but with all the interruptions we haven't even managed to get started yet. For the time being impulse is all we've got."

" _Bridge to Captain Kirk,_ " Uhura's voice sounds through the intercom.

"Kirk here," Jim answers.

" _Scanners report a sudden four degree shift in planet magnetic field,_ " Uhura informs him. " _A change in mass also, Captain._ "

"It is beginning," Spock stares at Jim. "Unusually rapid shifts."

"We're on our way, Lieutenant," Jim tells Uhura before cutting the connection.

)o(

 **Hey, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Until next time,**

 **Blessed be,**

 **TreeOfLife1997.**


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter Three:

"What the hell is that?" Ben asks as he sat down beside Sulu at one of the many tables in the mess hall and stared at the image displayed on Sulu's PADD screen.

"It's a Rapier," Sulu explains.

"What's that?" Ben asks.

"A thin sword," Sulu answers with a slight smile.

"Right," Ben nodes. "So what do you do with it?"

Sulu gives Ben a strange look, "What do you mean, what do you do with it?"

"Self-defence?" Ben replies. "Mayhem? Shish kebab?"

Sulu grins and shakes his head, "You practice."

"For what?" Ben asks.

"Hi, Joey," Sulu suddenly greets Toromolen as he joins them.

"Last week it was botany he was trying to get me interested in," Ben explains to Toromolen, rolling his eyes as he does so. "I was supposed to be collecting leaves and plant specimens."

"Your attitude is all wrong," Sulu shakes his head in mock disgust. "Fencing tones the muscles, sharpens the eye, improves the posture. You tell him, Joey. Explain it to him."

Sulu and Toromolen had been fencing partners at the academy and often trained together when they were both off shift.

"Hey, Joey," Sulu asks, placing a hand on Toromolen's shoulder. "You feeling all right?"

"Get off me!" Toromolen yells shaking himself free of Sulu's grip. "You don't out rank me and you don't have pointed ears, so just get off my neck!"

Sulu stares at Toromolen for a moment, "Are you okay, Joey?"

"It's nothing!" Toromolen answers with a sigh. "You know how First Office Spock is, no emotion. We found six bodies and he felt nothing!"

" _Attention,_ " Uhura's voice sounds over the intercom. " _Engine room on standby alert. All duty personnel to the Bridge. Acknowledge._ "

"You sure you're all right now, Joe?" Sulu asks, noticing the slight shake of Toromolen shoulders and the fact he hadn't moved even though almost everyone else had already left the mess hall. "We've got to leave."

"We're all a bunch of hypocrites," Toromolen began muttering to himself. "Sticking our noses into something that we've got no business sticking it in to. What are we doing out here, anyway?"

Toromolen suddenly grabs the knife off Sulu's tray.

"Take it easy, Joe," Sulu held his hands up and took a step back.

"We bring pain and trouble with us," Toromolen continues to mutter to himself. "Leave men and women stuck out here on freezing planets until they die. What are we doing out here in space? Good? What good? We're polluting it, destroying it. We've got no business being out here. No business what so ever."

Ben jumps back as Toromolen suddenly spun round waving the knife wildly, "Take it easy, Joe. Someone could get hurt. Why don't you just put the knife down and we can talk about this."

"Yeah, Joe," Sulu agrees. "Put the knife down and we'll talk about this. You just need to calm down."

"If a man was supposed to fly, he'd have wings," Toromolen carries on as if he hadn't heard them. "If he was supposed to be out here in space, he wouldn't need air to breathe. Wouldn't need life-support systems to keep him from freezing to death."

"Hey, Joey," Ben slowly approaches Toromolen, the way he was talking was beginning to worry him. "Put the knife down, huh?"

"We don't belong here," Toromolen's muttering began to take a more crazed edge. "It's not ours. Not ours. Destroying and watching. We don't belong. I don't belong. Six people died down there. Why do I deserve to live?"

"What are you doing, Joe?!" Sulu jumps forward as Toromolen turns the knife towards his wrists.

"Hey, Joey, put the knife down," Ben moves forward and grabs one of Toromolen's arms and tried to get the knife of him. "Don't be a fool."

"Let go!" Toromolen yells trying to pull himself free.

"Just give me the knife, Joe," Ben pleads trying to pull the knife from Toromolen's hand and Sulu steps in to try and help.

The three of them struggle, but as hard as Ben and Sulu tried they couldn't get the knife from Toromolen's hand.

"Let me go!" Toromolen yells, desperation filling his voice.

"Joey, give me the knife," Ben orders, reaching for the knife and as Toromolen tries to break free, the three of them are sent crashing to the ground. And much to Ben and Sulu's horror, Toromolen fell on the knife, stabbing himself in the stomach.

"Emergency!" Ben yells into the intercom, having run over to it while Sulu tried to help Toromolen. "Officers' mess hall. We need medics! Now!"

)o(

Captain's Log: Supplemental.

 _Our orbit is becoming unstable as the planet begins fall about. The need for efficiency is beyond critical, one mistake now and the entire ship will be destroyed. But unknown to us, a totally new and unusual disease has been brought aboard from the planet's surface._

)o(

"Relative gravity increasing, Captain," Sulu informs Jim.

Jim stares at the view screen, "Compensate, Mr Sulu."

"Aye, Captain," Sulu answers.

"The magnetic field is continuing to shift, Captain," Spock spoke up from his station. "The planet is continuing to shrink in mass."

"Lieutenant Uhura?" Jim asks, turning towards her.

"All scanning stations manned," Uhura answers. "All recorders are functioning, Captain. All departments are on yellow alert."

Jim nodes and turns back to the view careen.

"Orbit steady now, Captain," Sulu spoke up.

"Very good, Mr Sulu," Jim grins. "Let's keep it that way."

"The planet is condensing more rapidly than expected," Spock turned towards Jim. "A valuable study. We may be seeing Earth's distant future. Before its sun went dark, this planet was remarkably similar to yours."

"Think happy thoughts, Mr Spock," Jim answers, turning to Spock and grinning at him.

Spock simply raises an eyebrow before turning back to his station causing Jim to grin even wider.

Uhura suddenly frowns and raise a hand to her ear piece, "The planets break up is interfering with the communications system, Captain."

"Status?" Jim questions.

"Only inner-ship communications are uncompromised, Captain," Uhura answers.

Suddenly the ship jolts almost knocking the bridge crew from their seats.

"What was that?" Jim mutters.

"Relative gravity increase, Captain," Sulu answers. "It's like the planet reached out and yanked at us."

"We need to compensate it and fast," Jim orders as the ship jolts again.

Sulu moves to adjust the controls, but freezes as he reaches towards them. Jim quickly jumps up from his seat and steps down to the helm controls and adjusts them. Sulu shakes his head and seems to snap out of it and nodes to Jim.

"Orbit steady now, Captain," Sulu informs him.

"You feeling okay, Mr Sulu?" Jim asks.

"Just a little nervous, I guess," Sulu answers. "It won't happen again, Captain."

Jim nodes, "Make sure it doesn't, the safety of the entire ship rests in your hands and your ability to keep this ship in orbit, Mr Sulu."

" _This is McCoy,_ " Dr McCoy's voice sounds over the intercom. " _Captain Kirk to Sickbay._ "

"Lieutenant Uhura," Jim turns to Uhura. "Tell McCoy I'll be there as soon I can."

"Aye, Captain," Uhura answers.

"The Planet's breakup is imminent, Captain," Spock spoke up from the science station. "It is shrinking in size at an increasing rate. As the planet continues to shrink in size, its surface moves away from us-"

"-Forcing us to spiral down to maintain the same distance from it," Jim completes.

Spock turns and stares at Jim for a moment before nodding, "The crew must be prepared to respond instantly to any sudden changes."

"Bridge to Engineering," Jim pushes a button on one of the arms rests of his chair and opening the ship wide communications.

" _Lieutenant Finny here, Captain,_ " Ben answers.

"How long until the warp will be back online, Lieutenant?" Jim asks.

" _At least five hours… Maybe three if everything goes to plan,_ " Ben answers. " _But we could really use a hand down here, Captain._ "

"I'll be back down as soon as I can, Lieutenant," Jim answers. "Kirk out."

"Rate of compaction appears constant for the time being," Spoke informs Jim.

"Well I better go see what the good doctor wants," Jim mutters. "Keep me informed of any change, Mr Spock."

"Acknowledged," Spock answers, his attention fixed intently on the new readout, which was just coming through.

With a slight shake of his head, Jim heads towards the turbo-lift.

)o(

"His breathing rate is dropping, Doctor," Nurse Minver informs McCoy as he works to try and stem the bleed from the knife wound Toromolen had sustained.

"Compensate with the respirator," McCoy orders, not even looking up from what he was doing.

"Stand by to close," McCoy announces a couple of seconds later having finally stopped the bleeding. "Closing."

Before Toromolen can even be moved to recovery, his breathing rate begins to drop once more, setting off the alarms.

"This shouldn't be happening," McCoy all but growled out, as he runs a scanner over Toromolen. "He should be getting stronger."

The medical scanner beeps and McCoy frowns at the results, "You sure the respirator's functioning properly?"

There was nothing wrong with Toromolen other than the injury McCoy had just patched up. He should be recovering, not deteriorating

"Yes, Doctor," Nurse Minver answers.

"Then why is this man dying?" McCoy mutters. "Hypo."

Nurse Minver hands McCoy a hypo which McCoy quickly injects into Toromolen's neck. But nothing happens, Toromolen's breathing just gets weaker and weaker until there was nothing and his heart stops beating not long after.

"He's dead, Doctor." Nurse Minver shakes her head sadly and informs the computer of his time of death.

"The wounds… They weren't that severe," McCoy mutters, unable to understand what had just caused Toromolen's death.

The scanner has shown he had a clean bill of health other than the stab wound, which would only have been fatal if they hadn't been able to stop the bleed, but it would have taken hours for him to bleed out.

After changing out of his surgical scrubs and into a clean uniform, McCoy made his way to his office and collapsed into the seat at his desk and rested his head in his hands. After a moment he sat up straight and hit the button near his computer terminal.

"This is Dr McCoy," He spoke. "Captain Kirk to Sickbay."

For a couple of seconds there was no reply, then Uhura responded.

" _The Captain will be with you as soon as he can,_ " Uhura informs him.

"Acknowledged," McCoy answers. "Thank you, Lieutenant."

McCoy had forgotten Jim was up on the bridge, not down in engineering trying to fix the antimatter system. McCoy almost felt like telling Uhura to tell Jim not to bother, the Enterprise was in the middle of a very tricky situation and the Captain would most likely be needed on the bridge at all times.

But at the same time, McCoy needed his best friend.

This was the first crewmembers he had lost on the operating table since Jim had been made the official Captain of the Enterprise. The last person he hadn't been able to save was during the fiasco with Nero, but then there had been so many seriously injured crewmembers, they just hadn't been able to treat those coming in quick enough, especially since the medical bay itself had been hit and had taken casualties amongst the medical staff.

McCoy reached down and opened one of the draws to his desk and pulled out a bottle. He needed a drink.

)o(

 **Hey, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Until next time,**

 **Blessed be,**

 **TreeOfLife1997.**


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter Four:

Jim enters the medical bay and heads towards Dr McCoy's office, only to stop when he notices the medical bay is completely empty of patients.

"Nurse Minver," Jim calls across the medical bay. "Where's Lieutenant Toromolen?"

"Well…" Nurse Minver hesitates slightly.

"He died," Jim guesses. "Didn't he?"

Nurse Minver nodes, "I'm afraid so."

Jim nodes and carries on heading towards Dr McCoy's office. That certainly explained why McCoy had called him down to the medical bay. Jim hesitates outside the door to McCoy's office, before pressing the button to open the door without knocking.

He steps into the office and notices McCoy sitting at his desk with an open bottle of bourbon on desk and a glass in hand.

"It's a little early to start drinking, even for you, don't you think?" Jim asks, as he walks across to the empty seat on the opposite side of the desk to McCoy.

McCoy glances up at Jim and salutes him slightly with his glass, before downing its contents in one gulp. McCoy puts his glass down on the table, but doesn't move to refill it.

"What happened, Bones?" Jim asks.

McCoy rubs a hand over his face, "I don't know."

"You don't know?" Jim questions in disbelief.

McCoy nodes, "The intestinal damage wasn't that severe… I got to him in plenty of time."

"So why's he dead?" Jim asks.

"I don't know, Jim," McCoy answers. "That man should still be alive."

Jim reaches across the desk and picks up McCoy's PADD, he quickly unlocks it and begins searching through the crews medical profiles.

"Ya know I could get in serious trouble if anyone ever found out I let you do that," McCoy nodes towards the PADD in Jim's hand.

"Well come up with a better password next time, Bones," Jim looks up at him and grins.

"Like that'd stop you," McCoy snorts.

"You know me so well," Jim laughs.

McCoy just rolls his eyes, "What ya lookin' for anyway?"

"Toromolen's psychiatric file," Jim answers.

McCoy sat forward in his seat, "According to his report, his capacity for self-doubt was higher than most peoples. Apart from that, there's nothing in his medical history which could have caused this."

"There must be something, Bones," Jim answers. "Nobody ever just dies for no reason."

McCoy sighs and shakes his head, "The only reason I can think of, Jim, is he died because he didn't want to live… He gave up."

Jim looks up at McCoy, "He gave up?"

"I've lost patients before, but never like that," McCoy explains. "Not his kind anyway. He was the kind of man that doesn't give up…"

"Maybe it's just a coincidence, but…" Jim stares at McCoy.

"You think Toromolen and what happened to those scientists down on the planet are connected," McCoy returns Jim stare.

"Exactly that," Jim answers.

"Jim, he was decontaminated," McCoy answers. "He's been medically checked. We've run every test we know for everything we know."

"So what if it's something we don't know about that's causing this," Jim replies. "What if this is something completely new, which nobody had ever encounter before? Humans hadn't even set foot on Psi 2000 thirty years ago and it's going to turn to dust mostly undiscovered and unexplored. Bones, there could be basic life forms hidden under all that ice that are going to be destroyed and we don't even know exist and will never know exist… What if it's a type of bacteria? They can survive in extreme conditions… Hell they can even survive in the vacuum of space!"

"Well," McCoy answers. "It's a possible a microorganism is causing this, but the scanners would have picked it up."

"Bones…" Jim mutters.

"Yeah, yeah," McCoy sighs, getting to his feet. "I know, nothing is impossible."

)o(

Spock turns his attention away from the screens at his station and looks round the bridge as the ship shakes and trembles from the pull of the dying planet, only to find the pilot's seat empty.

"Why isn't Mister Sulu at this station?" Spock questions.

"Magnetic pull compensated for, sir," Chekov answers, as he worked to stabilise the ship. "Orbit steady."

"You did not answer my question, Mr Chekov," Spock raises an eyebrow slightly in annoyance. "Why isn't Mr Sulu at his station?"

"He went to ze gym, kommander," Chekov answers.

Spock raised his eyebrow even higher before turning to the intercom, "Lieutenant McKenna, report to the bridge immediately."

After a couple of minutes the turbo lift doors slide open and Lieutenant McKenna steps out onto the bridge, she quickly walked over to the helm and took her place in the pilot's seat as she finished tying up her hair.

She was amazed she had made it to the bridge so quickly, as she wasn't due on duty until the following day, if it hadn't been for her roommate waking her up, she would have missed First Officer Spock's orders for her to report to the bridge.

"Maintain a steady orbit, Lieutenant McKenna," Spock informs her. "It is vital we remain a constant distance from the planet."

"Aye, sir," McKenna acknowledges.

Spock nodes and turns back to his station, pressing the intercom button once again, "Captain Kirk to the Bridge."

)o(

"What were their symptoms?" Jim sits down at the table in his ready room and takes the PADD Spock holds out to him.

Reports of crewmembers acting strangely were coming in from all over the ship and Jim was surprised to see Sulu on the list.

"Nonviolent at this stage," Spock answers. "Slightly disoriented. Many crewmembers seem rather… Over emotional, as if they were-"

"Irrational," Jim cuts in. "Or drugged."

"Precisely," Spock agrees with a slight incline of his head.

"Lieutenant Uhura," Jim speaks into the intercom at his desk.

" _Yes, Captain,_ " Uhura answers.

"Inform security to locate and confine all crewmembers who are possibly infected and have them taken to the medical bay," Jim orders. "Also inform the crew that anyone who comes in contact with them will need to be medically checked and to report to Sickbay ASAP."

" _Understood, Captain,_ " Uhura answers.

Jim goes to kill the connection when Uhura's voice sounds again.

" _Captain, level two, corridor three, reports a disturbance,_ " Uhura voice held a hint of worry. " _Mr Sulu is chasing crewmen with a sword._ "

Sulu chasing the crew with a sword certainly explained her worry, Jim thought as reaches up and pinches the bridge of his nose, why had he taken Pike up on that dare again?

"Put Security on it," Jim answers. "Have him confined to the brig. Inform Sickbay of his location."

"Fascinating," Spock mutters. "A pattern is developing. First, Toromolen, hidden personality traits being forced to the surface. And now Sulu, who holds the values and ways of his ancestors in high regard."

Jim just shakes his head slightly, "Present condition of Psi 2000?"

"Gravity pull increasing," Spock answers. "We've shifted to two percent."

Jim nodes and gets to his feet, handing the PADD back to Spock as he does so. He quickly exit's the ready room and steps out on to the bridge. The ship suddenly quacks and Jim would have lost his footing at the sudden shift if it hadn't not been for Spock grabbing his arm to steady him.

"Lieutenant McKenna," Jim turns towards the helm. "Stabilise our position."

"The helm is not responding, Captain," McKenna answers.

Jim eyes widen as the ship shakes again.

"Get us out of here," Jim orders.

"The engines are not responding either, Captain,"

"Use impulse," Jim answers stumbling slightly as the ship shuddered. "Warp is offline."

McKenna shakes her head, "Impulse engines are also dead, Captain."

"Kirk to engineering," Jim commed engineering having reaches his chair. "We need power!"

There was no answer and a feeling of dread washes over Jim.

"Lieutenant Finny, acknowledge," Jim tries again. "Out controls are dead. Get us out of here!"

"Rochefort," Sulu exclaim suddenly from behind Jim, as the turbo-lift doors open. "At last!"

Jim spins to find Sulu heading in his direction sword in hand and Jim was thankful it was a sword used when fencing rather than the sword Sulu had used when they had battled the Romulans on the drill.

"Sulu, put that-" Jim begins only to be cut off as Sulu lunges at him and the sword cuts into Jim's upper arm, as he jumps to the side to try and avoid it. The sword was razor sharp and Jim was left with a bleeding and stinging wound.

"For honour, Queen, and France!" Sulu proclaims and lunges at Jim again.

Jim quickly ducks sideways and puts his chair between himself and Sulu. Spock's theory on Sulu holding his ancestry in high regard didn't seem to be accurate, because as far as Jim knew Sulu's family didn't have roots in France, neither were they ever part of the King's Musketeers!

"Sulu," Uhura calls from her station.

Sulu turns and looks at her, "Ah."

"Sulu," Uhura holds out her hand. "Give me the sword."

"I'll protect you," Sulu suddenly grabs her hand and pulls her close. "Fair Constance."

"Sorry Sulu," Uhura mutters before stamping down hard on Sulu's foot and escaping his grasp.

With Sulu distracted by Uhura's escape, Jim quickly knocks the sword from Sulu's hand and as Sulu spins to face Jim, Spock comes up behind him and delivers a Vulcan nerve pinch. Sulu slumps to ground unconscious and Jim can't help but wince slightly in sympathy.

"You'll have to teach me how to do that one day," Jim grins at Spock, who raises an eyebrow slightly.

"It would be wise to have security to take D'Artagnan here to Sickbay before he regains consciousness," Spock stares down at Sulu for a moment, before turning away and walking over to Uhura.

Jim stares after him, jaw hanging open in shock. Had Spock just made a joke? Getting over his shock, Jim laughs, hardly noticing how Spock looked back at him and the slight upwards twitch of his lips, and turns towards his chair to contact security.

The ship suddenly shudders again.

"We need power," Jim speak into the intercom. "Engine room, acknowledge!"

"You rang, sir?" A voice answer and it takes Jim a moment to realise its Ben.

)o(

Captain's Log: Supplemental.

 _It's my belief that whatever caused those scientists to go crazy, has now infected my crew. Nearly one quarter of the crew are infected and it's spreading fast. To make matters worse, the antimatter system still hasn't been fixed, meaning we are unable to go to warp and impulse power is unresponsive. Every second we are without power, the closer this ship comes to being destroyed._

)o(

 **Hey, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Until next time,**

 **Blessed be,**

 **TreeOfLife1997.**


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter Five:

"Ben," Jim mutters. "We need power now!"

" _Who is this Ben you speak of?_ " Ben asks.

Jim hesitates for a second.

"He's an engineer," Jim answers. "Could you see if he's there…?"

" _Benjamin Finney,_ " Ben answers. " _Captain Benjamin Finney of the USS Enterprise. Who are you?_ "

Jim hesitates again.

It was clear Ben had become infected and now believed himself to be the Captain, which fell in line with Spock's theory, as Ben had once confined in Jim that he had always dreamed of being a Captain, but he had failed the entry exam for the command track.

So if he introduced himself as James Tiberius Kirk, Captain of the Enterprise, would that make the situation worse? Those infected were highly emotional and irrational, if Jim said something which made Ben mad in his currently unstable state of mind… The outcome would be far from good.

"Jim Kirk," Jim finally replies.

" _Well, Jim Kirk, there is no engineer by the name of Ben on duty at this time,_ " Ben informs him. " _Now, attention, cooks, this is your captain speaking. I would like double portions of ice cream for the entire crew and-_ "

Jim kills the connection, cutting Ben off.

"Captain," Spock turns from his station to face him. "At our present rate of descent, we have less than twenty minutes before we enter planet's atmosphere-"

"And burn up," Jim nodes. "I know, Mr Spock."

Jim turns towards the helm and stares at Chekov of a moment.

"Chekov," Jim orders. "With me."

"Aye, Keptin," Chekov answers.

"Spock," Jim calls over his shoulder as he and Chekov walk towards the turbo-lift. "You have the Conn."

The turbo-lift doors slide shut and as the lift begins to move after Jim orders the lift to take them to engineering, Spock's voice sounds over the intercom summoning Chekov replacement to the bridge.

"We have less than twenty minutes to get the engines back online," Jim tells Chekov. "Once we get to Engineering, we are going to have to move fast. You think you're up to it, Chekov?"

"Da," Chekov answers with a grin. "Eet will be like at ze academy."

Jim smiles at the memory.

"At least I won't get accused of cheating this time," Jim grins.

)o(

Captain's Log:

 _The ship is out of control, spiralling down towards the planet Psi 2000. We have nineteen minutes of life left if we can't get the impulse power up and running and restore power to the helm controls. Myself and Chekov are currently on our way to engineering, but it's going to be close. One mistake on our part will doom everyone aboard…_

)o(

Jim stares at the door in front of them.

"You've got to be kidding me," Jim mutters.

He and Chekov had finally made it down to engineering only to find every entrance locked and Jim unable to override it or hack past the lock.

"What the hell has he even done?!" Jim shakes his head.

"He has locked off the mekanism," Chekov answers.

"Come again?" Jim asks, unsure about what Chekov was referring to.

"He has diskonnekted ze locking system from ze inside," Chekov explains.

Jim thinks for a moment.

"Of course," Jim snaps his fingers and grins at Chekov.

Turning back to the door Jim studies it for a second.

"He must have linked everything through the main panel in there," Jim nodes to himself. "The only way we are going to get past this door is by rewiring the circuits on the other side of this bulkhead… Right, Chekov, I need you to get the plans from Scotty's office, we can't risk getting this wrong. While you're doing that, I'll make a start on removing the panel."

"Aye, Keptin." Chekov salutes him, before hurrying off in the direction of Scotty's office, which thankful was stationed outside of engineering and simply over looked department.

Jim was in the process of lowering the panel to the floor as Chekov runs down the hallway towards him with a PADD in hand. Chekov quickly hands Jim the PADD, who switches the screen on and studies the diagram which appeared on the screen. Chekov glances over his shoulder as Jim studies it.

"We need to disconnect this wire here," Jim points to the diagram. "And reconnect it here. Also these wires need to be disconnected, whilst these two need to be crossed. Then it's just a matter of redirecting the power."

"Da," Chekov agrees.

"Right," Jim mutters. "We have fifteen minutes. Let's get to work!"

Working side by side, Jim and Chekov quickly rewire the circuits before Jim finally pulls two wires free of the others.

"Chekov," Jim orders. "Get ready to open the door."

Once Chekov is in position, Jim connects the two wires, they spark and Chekov jumps forward hitting one of the buttons on the wall beside the door. The door to engineering slides halfway open, before the panel Jim's standing in front of sparks again and shorts out.

Moving past Chekov, Jim steps through the half open door and in to engineering, only to find it in a state of complete and utter chaos. The scent of smoke in the air was strong and sparks flashed from all around, whilst the creaking of damaged parts echoed through the air.

"This isn't good," Jim mutters, as Chekov joins him.

)o(

"Status reports," Spock orders. "All sections."

"Mr Spock, there's a fight in the science department," Uhura answers. "Five injured, two seriously. Security reports incidents among the crewmen are increasing."

"Go to Red Alert," Spock commands, sitting down in the captain's chair. "Seal off main sections."

"All decks, Red Alert," Uhura speaks into the intercom at her station. "I repeat, all decks go to Red Alert. Seal off all main sections. Stand by."

Spock quickly turns his attention to the series of buttons on the arm of the Captain's chair, he quickly pushed down on one.

" _Kirk here,_ " Jim's voice sounds.

"We're are sealing off all main sections, Captain," Spock informs Jim. "In an attempt to minimise the spread of whatever is infecting the crew."

" _Acknowledged,_ " Jim answers. " _Continue the alert, Lieutenant._ "

"I can't, Captain," Uhura replies, holding a hand to her ear piece as she taps at her station, checking all the channels but getting nothing but static. "He's cut off the alert channels."

" _Try … ing…th… em…gen… frequ…cy… it…_ " Was all they were able to make out before Jim's voice was lost completely in the static.

" _Attention, crew,_ " A voice suddenly sounds over the intercom. " _This is Captain Finny. There will be a formal dance in rec room five at nineteen hundred hours tonight._ "

" _Sickbay to bridge,_ " McCoy's voice suddenly sounds.

"Spock here," Spock answers, raising an eyebrow slightly.

" _Where's Jim?_ " McCoy demands.

"The Captain and Ensign Chekov are currently in engineering," Spock answers.

" _God damn idiot,_ " McCoy mutters. " _Doesn't he know that entire section has been placed under quarantine?!_ "

"It would appear not, Doctor McCoy," Spock answers.

The ship suddenly quakes again and the lights flicker slightly.

" _Can you keep this beast level?!_ " McCoy suddenly exclaims. " _Do have any idea how hard it is to-_ "

McCoy's voice was suddenly cut off only to be replaced by Jim's.

" _Sorry, Bones,_ " Jim voice sounds. " _You can rant all you want later, but right now I need to speak to the Commander. We've got a major problem down here, Spock... When I give you the single, you need to get the ship out of here. You're going to get less than a minutes worth of power and it's only going to be impulse._ "

"Affirmative Captain, we will be awaiting your signal," Spock answers.

" _This is Captain Finney,_ " Ben voice sounds once more over the intercom. " _Crew, I have some additional orders._ "

" _Spock I need you to try and lock Lieutenant Finney out of communications,_ " Jim orders. " _Every time he issues a new order… Let's just say it isn't pretty._ "

"It is impossible, Captain," Spock replies. "He has control of the main power panels. He can override any attempt we make from the bridge."

" _In the future, all female crew members will wear their hair loosely, about their shoulders,_ " Ben continues.

"Captain, you have less than ten minutes," Spock informs Jim.

" _I know, Spock!_ " Jim answers.

)o(

 **Hey, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Until next time,**

 **Blessed be,**

 **TreeOfLife1997.**


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter Six:

Jim almost jumps in surprise as his comm lets out a beep. He quickly pulled it from his belt and flipped it open, as he glances round to make sure none of the infected crew members nearby had heard it and breathes a sigh of relief as it appears none of them had.

"Kirk here," Jim speaks into his comm, keeping his voice low.

" _We're are sealing off all main sections, Captain,_ " Spock informs him through the comm. " _In an attempt to minimise the spread of whatever is infecting the crew._ "

"Acknowledged," Jim answers, glancing round sharply as a noise comes from somewhere close behind him and freezes as an infected crewman heads in his direction only to get attacked by a second infected crewman.

"Continue the alert, Lieutenant," Jim adds, addressing Uhura through the comm, as he watches the fight going on before him.

" _I can't, Captain,_ " Uhura's voice replies through his comm. " _He's cut off the alert channels._ "

"Try using the emergency frequency it operates separately and on a different frequency to the inter-ship communications," But the only response Jim gets is the sound of static.

" _Attention, crew,_ " Another voice suddenly echoes through engineering and Jim ducks down slightly as the infected crew around him begin screaming and yelling. " _This is Captain Finny. There will be a formal dance in rec room five at nineteen hundred hours tonight._ "

Glancing round once again, Jim knows he has no choice but to run.

He had to get back to Chekov, who was currently working on the opposite side of engineering to where he was. They had been forced to split up in order to try and restore power to the bridge before their time was up.

Jim doubted Pike would be pleased if he received news his beloved ship had been destroyed… Even though it wasn't really his ship anymore. And almost all the internal damage had been done by the ship's crew. Jim ducks down quickly as a piece of metal flies through the air above him and crashes to the floor somewhere nearby.

Engineering would definitely be undergoing repairs for weeks to come if they got out of this alive.

Taking a deep breath, Jim runs. Thankfully the infected crew were too preoccupied by Ben announcement over the intercom to notice him running across engineering like the hounds of hell were at his heels, as ducks and drives around them.

Chekov glances up from where he's working as Jim drops down beside him.

"It's done," Jim informs Chekov, who nodes before turning back to the wiring he's working on.

"Ee am almost done, Keptin," Chekov informs Jim as he continues to work.

Jim nodes and flips open his communicator.

"Now to contact the bridge," Jim mutters to himself.

It doesn't take Jim long to tune his communicator into the emergency frequency and much to his surprise he find's Doctor McCoy is using and unsurprisingly he currently having a go at Spock.

" _Can you keep this beast level?!_ " McCoy exclaims. " _Do have any idea how hard it is to-_ "

"Sorry, Bones," Jim cuts his best friend off. "You can rant all you want later, but right now I need to speak to the Commander."

Jim doesn't bother waiting for McCoy to reply and just carries on speaking, "We've got a major problem down here, Spock... When I give you the single, you need to get the ship out of here. You're going to get less than a minutes worth of power and it's only going to be impulse."

" _Affirmative Captain, we will be awaiting your signal,_ " Spock answers.

" _This is Captain Finney,_ " Ben voice sounds again over the intercom. " _Crew, I have some additional orders._ "

"Spock I need you to try and lock Lieutenant Finney out of communications," Jim orders, somewhat desperately, as he watches the infected crewman. "Every time he issues a new order… Let's just say it isn't pretty."

" _It is impossible, Captain,_ " Spock replies. " _He has control of the main power panels. He can override any attempt we make from the bridge._ "

" _In the future, all female crew members will wear their hair loosely, about their shoulders,_ " Ben continues.

" _Captain, you have less than ten minutes,_ " Spock warn Jim.

"I know, Spock!" Jim exclaims, ducking back as a group of infected crewman begin heading in his and Chekov's direction.

"Chekov we need to move. Now." Jim orders.

The two of them quickly make their way up onto one on the many catwalks which overlooked the main engine room and they couldn't help but flinch slightly at the sight which greeted them. They had thought it had been bad from the ground, but seeing it from above showed the true extent of the damage done.

And as the infected crewmembers continue to riot, ripping engineering apart with their bare hands, Jim and Chekov can only watch and hope that they infected crewman didn't undo their hard work or the ship would be destroyed.

)o(

McCoy glares at Sulu who was lying unconscious on the bed in front of him, having been sedated for the second time, after the first sedative he'd been injected with had barely kept him unconscious for an hour.

" _Hey Bones,_ " Jim voice suddenly sounds from the intercom near where McCoy's working. " _Can you hear me?_ " Bones begins trying to work out on a cure.

"I'm getting you, Jim," McCoy answers. "Look, can you make this quick? I've finally got Sulu sedated and we're running tests on him."

" _What have you found out so far?_ " Jim questions and McCoy can't help but notice there's an edge to Jim's voice.

"So far there's we've found nothing unusual in his bloodstream," McCoy explains. "Body functions seem normal-"

" _Motherfucker!_ " Jim suddenly swears and for a moment nothing but static sounds through the intercom.

"Jim?" McCoy question. "Jim?!"

" _Fuck,_ " Jim voice sounds again as the strict clears. " _Chekov, you alright?_ "

" _Da, Keptin,_ " Chekov answers and McCoy has to strain his ears to hear it.

" _This is Captain Finney,_ " Ben's voice through the ship wide communications. " _Crew, I have some more additional orders._ "

" _Please, not again,_ " Jim mutters and McCoy can't help but wonder how bad things are down in engineering.

" _All women must use restraint when putting on makeup,_ " Ben orders. " _Women should not look made up._ "

" _Shit,_ " Jim swears and McCoy almost jumps as an almighty crash sounds through the intercom. " _Chekov, watch out! Move! Move! Move!_ "

A second crash sounds through the intercom, shortly followed by Chekov swearing rapidly Russian.

" _Keptin!_ " Chekov frantic voice sounds through the intercom. " _Keptin_!"

" _I'm alright, Chekov,_ " Jim voice sounds pained as he speaks.

"Jim, what's happening down there?!" McCoy demands.

"Ben's the immediate problem, Bones," Jim answers. "Is there any way, anything you can do to snap him out of it?"

"Negative," McCoy answers. "Until I can get a little farther on these tests and even then I can't promise anything."

But McCoy revives no reply.

"Jim?" McCoy questions. "Jim?! Damn it!"

Glaring down at Sulu, who's still unconscious, McCoy takes a blood sample and makes his way to the desk on the far side of the room to analyse the blood in person, as the computer results showed Sulu's blood was perfectly normal.

"McCoy to Biopsy lab," McCoy pushes down on the button below the intercom stationed on the desk. "Biopsy, where's my report? Biopsy, come in! Harrison, where's my report?"

But he gets no reply.

"I'm going to the lab," McCoy announces as he turns to Nurse Chapel, who's working nearby.

"Sir?" Chapel calls after him as he's about to leave.

"Yes?" McCoy pauses and looks back at her.

"The sedative is wearing off," Chapel explains, nodding towards Sulu.

"Oh, good," McCoy mutters sarcastically. "Keep him sedated, Nurse Chapel. Continue to monitor him and alert me to any changes."

"Of course, Doctor," Chapel answers.

)o(

"Kirk to Bridge," Jim's voice sounds through Uhura's ear piece.

"Captain!" Uhura almost jumped in surprise at hearing his voice, before she taps a button so the rest of the bridge can hear the orders Jim's no doubt about to give.

"Lieutenant," Jim greets. "Try the helm. You'll definitely have enough power to stabilise the ship, but I can't guarantee you'll have much more than that."

"Captain," Spock's speaks up. "May I ask why there is only potentially enough power to stabilise the ship? Only moments ago you said there would be enough power to move the ship at impulse."

"There have been a few… Complications, since we last spoke," Jim answers, hesitating slightly as he does so.

"May I enquire as to what those 'complications' were?" Spock questions.

"Not now, Spock," Jim replies. "We don't have time."

"Affirmative," Spock acknowledges. "We've stabilised and pulled away from the planet, however we as still caught in the planets gravitational pull and are still spiralling down towards the planet at a slower rate."

"Emergency signal from both deck four and five," Uhura suddenly announces as an alert comes through to her station. "Fights and disorders."

"Acknowledged," Jim answers. "Spock, head down to sickbay and give Doctor McCoy a hand. See if you can identify what's causing this. We need an antidote and we need in soon, before the entire crew becomes infected and keep the bridge cut off. We can't afford to lose control of that too, or we're never going to get out of this."

)o(

Captain's Log:

 _The ship is still mostly out of control and spiralling down towards the planet. But on the plus side we're managed to stabilise the ship and had enough power to pull away from the planet slightly, but we are still trapped in its gravitational pull. We don't have an awful lot of time left now, but myself and Chekov are working as fast as we can. But it isn't easy when engineering is overrun with infected crewman… We're about to attempt to try and remove Ben Finney and regain control of the ship. I'm praying it works, but engineering has sustained a lot of damage from the rioting crew._

)o(

 **Hey, sorry it's taken so long to update this story, but I'm now back to writing this story once more. So you shouldn't have to wait as long until I post the next chapter. Until next time,**

 **Blessed be,**

 **TreeOfLife1997.**


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter Seven:

Spock walks quickly through the hallways of the ship as he heads towards the medical bay. He could not understand the Captain's reasons for sending him to 'give Doctor McCoy a hand'. According to the doctor's crew records, he was a competent doctor and more than capable of dealing with this on his own.

And it was no secret that McCoy and Spock did not get along.

From what Spock had been able to work out, McCoy's _dislike_ of him come from either when Spock had marooned Jim on Delta Vega or when Spock had almost killed Jim on the bridge not long after… It was entirely possible it was a combination of both those events, but Spock couldn't be sure.

Spock turned down another hallway only to pause for a moment. Written on the walls in what appeared to be red ink or paint, were the words 'Love Mankind'. For a second Spock had almost been fooled into thinking it had been written in blood, but there wasn't the distinctive smell of blood in the air.

Raising an eyebrow slightly, Spock carries on walking and it doesn't take him long to cross paths with some fellow crewman. One of which Spock recognises as Janice Rand, the Captain's Yeoman. It takes him a couple of seconds to recall the name of the second crewman from the crew files Spock had looked over at the start of the mission.

"Lieutenant Harrison, report to the lab," Spock orders.

Lieutenant Harrison lets go of Janice Rand from where he had her pinned the wall of the hallway. Rand takes the opportunity to escape him and quickly darts away. And comes to a halt just behind Spock, so she's almost hidden from view as she glances round Spock to glare at Lieutenant Harrison, before looking down at her bruised knuckles.

God, she hoped she'd hit him hard enough to leave a bruise.

"Return to your quarters, Yeoman," Spock orders.

"Yes, Commander," Rand answers, before hurrying away.

Once the sound Rand's footsteps had faded, Spock goes to move past Lieutenant Harrison, only for his way to be blocked by the said Lieutenant.

"Step aside, Lieutenant," Spock commands.

"With all due respect, sir," Lieutenant Harrison answers. "I don't take orders from a half-breed."

Before Spock even realised what he was doing, Lieutenant Harrison lay unconscious at his feet and Spock slowly lowers his hand. That had been an entirely emotional response. He needed to mediate, but first he had orders from the Captain to complete.

He steps over Lieutenant Harrison unconscious form and continues on his way.

)o(

"Am I correct in thinking, if we cut through this wire here and re-join it here," Jim points out, as Chekov looks over his shoulder. "It'll bypass the doors security feature and allow up to get into the control room."

"Da, Keptin," Chekov nods.

"Right then," Jim nods to himself. "That's what we'll do."

It only takes Jim a minute to accomplish his plan and the door to the control room slides open.

"Carefully, Chekov," Jim warns, as Chekov goes to enter the room. "Ben is completely unpredictable at the moment."

"He ees not here, Keptin," Chekov replies and Jim quickly moves and look over Chekov's shoulder.

He was right. The control room was empty. Ben had disappeared.

" _Bridge to Captain,_ " Uhura's voice sounds over the intercom.

"Kirk here," Jim answers, pressing down on one of the buttons on intercom after moving over to the man desk of the control room.

" _The new orbit plot has been calculated,_ " Uhura informs him. " _We have forty-five minutes before we enter the planets outer atmosphere, sir._ "

"Keptin," Chekov calls from behind him.

"What is it, Mr Chekov?" Jim asks.

"He's turned ze engines off," Chekov answers. "Zey are kompletely kold… Eet will take, say about zirty minutes to zree quarters of an hour to regenerate zem."

" _Captain please respond,_ " Uhura's voice sounds again, drawing Jim's attention back to the intercom.

"I got it, Lieutenant. We have forty-five minutes, Kirk out. Chekov," Jim turns back to Chekov. "I need a more accurate estimate than that."

"Uh, forty minutes. Maybe," Chekov answers.

Jim nods, "Well then, let's get to work. We don't have a second to waste."

It didn't take the two of them long to run into their first problem. The cracks in the antimatter unit still hadn't been fixed and until they were fixed they had no way of restarting the ship. And the longer it took them to repair the unit, the less time they'd have to actually restart the ship.

By the time Jim and Chekov successfully fix the last of the cracks in the antimatter unit, half an hour has passed. And as Jim looks around engineering, watching the infected crewman gathered across from him, he prays nothing else goes wrong.

Or there won't be enough time left.

"We have about fifteen minutes left," Jim tells Chekov, as they re-enter the control room. "And we need forty."

Chekov nods, but doesn't answer, there was nothing he could say.

"What if we do a cold start?" Jim suddenly speaks up.

"Keptin," Chekov sounds alarmed. "We kan't mix matter and antimatter cold. Eet will explode."

"We could balance the engines in a controlled implosion," Jim disagrees.

"Zat ees only a Zeory," Chekov points out. "It has newer been done."

"What do you reckon the odd of it working are?" Jim asks, as he begins to run calculations in his head.

"Ten zousand to one?" Chekov guesses. "But how will you get the right formula?"

"We need Mr Spock," Jim mutters, hitting the button for the intercom. "Kirk to McCoy."

" _McCoy here,_ " McCoy answers.

"Is Spock with you?" Jim asks.

" _No and I hope it stays that way!_ " McCoy answers. " _I don't need the hobgoblin sticking his noise in where it doesn't belong._ "

Jim cuts the connection. Spock should have made it to the sickbay by now and if he hadn't then something must have happened to stop him.

"Kirk to Spock," Jim comms Spock directly. "Come in, Spock."

But he gets no reply. He didn't have time for this!

"Kirk to bridge," Maybe Spock had returned to the bridge.

" _Uhura here, Captain,_ " Uhura answers.

"Is Spock there?" Jim asks.

" _No, sir,_ " Uhura answers.

"Well can you get hold of him and send Mr Spock down to engineering ASAP? He needed if we're going to have any hope of restarting the ship."

)o(

Captain's Log: Supplemental

 _Chekov and I have managed to gain access to Engineering's main control room and Ben Finney is nowhere in sight. But we have a more important issue than Ben's disappearing act to deal with right now. The ship's engines have been switched off. The ship has no power. Life support systems are currently working off of the backup power units, but their power supply is limited. I'm going to have gamble on a nearly impossible plan to get my crew out of this alive and I'm going to need my first officer's help… It's only going to take one mistake and the cost will be all our lives._

)o(

Spock steps into sickbay and looks round. Dr McCoy was nowhere in sight.

"Nurse Chapel?" Spock approaches Nurse Chapel. "Where is Doctor McCoy?"

"He's gone to the lab, Commander," Nurse Chapel answers.

"Spock to research lab," Spock speaks into his comm. "Lab please respond."

"Mister Spock," Nurse Chapel moves from where she was working.

"What is it, Nurse?" Spock questioned closing his comm.

"Mister Spock," She stops next to Spock and take on of his hands in her own, not noticing how Spock tenses. "The Vulcan's treat their women strangely… At least, people say that, but you're part human too… I know you don't… You couldn't, hurt me, could you? I'm in love with you, Mister Spock. You, as both a human and a Vulcan."

"Nurse, you should-" Spock voice sounds strained, as he tries to pull his hand from Nurse Chapel's grip.

"Christine, please," Nurse Chapel interrupts him. "I see things… Like how honest you are. I know how you feel. You hide it, but you do have feelings… Oh, how we must hurt you, torture you."

"I'm in control of my emotions," Spock replies. "What other say does not affect me, Nurse."

"The others believe that," Nurse Chapel shakes her head. "I don't. I love you. I don't know why, but I love you. I do love you, just as you are."

"I apologise, Nurse," Spock finally pulls his hand free of Nurse Chapel's. "But I cannot return your feelings."

" _Bridge to Commander Spock,_ " Uhura voice sounds over the intercom. " _Commander Spock, please respond._ "

"Christine," Nurse Chapel corrects him.

"I apologise, Christine," Spock steps away from her and quickly leaves the medical bay.

" _Bridge to Sickbay,_ " Uhura's voice sounds over the intercom once more. " _Is Mister Spock there?_ "

)o(

 **Hey, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Until next time,**

 **Blessed be,**

 **TreeOfLife1997.**


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter Eight:

"Chekov head back up to the bridge," Jim orders as he runs a system check. "Once Spock gets here, you're going to have to be ready to get this ship outta here."

"Da, Keptin," Chekov answers before hurrying off.

"Be careful," Jim calls after him.

The sound of beeping draws Jim's attention back to the screen in front of him. The system check was complete and the computer could find nothing wrong it the systems. It seemed the cracks in the antimatter unit had been the only problems. But engineering had sustained a lot of damage, so he knew how long that'd stay true for.

Jim quickly turns and heads for the door, he might as well prep the systems for the cold start he and Spock were going to have to do. But as he steps out the door he suddenly feels a pair of hands on his back and he's pushed forwards with force.

He crashes into the hand rail the runs along the walkway outside the main control room and a second push sends him over the rail and Jim looks up as he hangs one handed from the rail. Standing above him with a manic look on their face is Ben.

"Ben," Jim stares at him.

Ben grins at him and there's a look in his eyes which Nm doesn't like the look of.

"You know once upon a time it was punishable by death to impersonate a captain," Ben tells him.

"Ben…" Jim warns as he sees Ben reaching for his hand.

"What, Jim Kirk?" Ben asks. "Any last words."

"Ben don't do this," Jim mutters, but he can feel his hand beginning to slip even without Ben's help. "This isn't what it look like."

"Then what is it, Jim Kirk," Ben answers. "If it isn't what it looks like? Because it look as if you're impersonating the captain to me."

Jim's hand begins to slip and Jim looks down at the ground below him.

"Listen to me, Ben," Jim pleads. "You're sick."

Ben just laughs and goes to for Jim's hand, but in the same moment Jim's hand loses its grip on the rail and Jim crash lands on the floor below. Jim lets out a hiss of pain as he lands, he definitely sprained on of his ankles. He quickly scrambles to his feet as he sees Ben heading towards the ladder leading down onto the main floor from the walkway.

He begins running the best his can. He knows if he puts too much pressure on his ankle right now he'll only end up back on the floor and Jim didn't really want to find out what Ben would do to him if he catches him. But Ben isn't the only problem Jim faces, engineering is still teeming with infected crewmen and he'd drawn a lot of attention to himself when he crash landed.

Jim grinds his teeth as he moves. Could his luck get any worse? Actually it was probably best he didn't think about that, the last thing he needed to do was tempt fate. He's already in enough trouble as it is, he really doesn't need to add to it.

)o(

Captain's Log: Supplemental

 _I'm currently trapped in engineering. Having fixed up the antimatter units with the help of Ensign Chekov, I'm now just awaiting Spock's arrival so we can restart the ship and get the hell out of here! But there's still no sign of Spock and I've received no word from the bridge concerning his whereabouts… The only good news I have is that Ben Finney seems to have given up his pursuit of me for the time being. I cannot say, for certain, what he'll do to me if he catches me… But I know it'll be nothing good, that's for sure._

)o(

Spock walks through the hallways of the ship, with his head ducked and his hands clasped tightly behind his back. Sweat was beginning to roll down his forehead as he waged a metal battle against his emotions and he was losing. He was finding it harder and harder to stay in control and his shields were beginning to creak and break under the force of his supressed emotions.

" _Mister Spock,_ " Uhura's voice sounds over the intercom. " _Please acknowledge?_ "

So many emotions were trying to break free, to shatter his logic into a million pieces. The sear about of emotions was beginning to make him feel ill. Some of the emotions he didn't even recognise… There were so many and hid shields were failing. Having no other choose, Spock keys in his override code into the closest door and enters the room, which just happens to be a small briefing room.

He collapses into one of the seats and the table and quickly tries to force his emotions back with the aid of meditation. But it's hopeless. Slowly Spock leans forward and rests his aching forehead on the cool surface of the table and shuts his eyes.

"I am in control of my emotions," Spock spoke out loud. "I am in control of my emotions. I am an officer… An officer of Starfleet. My duty… My duty is… Is to… My duty is to… To… Too late. I am sorry. I am sorry, mother, I could not save you."

" _Mister Spock, please acknowledge,_ " Uhura's voice sounds through the intercom again.

"I feel love and I am ashamed," Spock continues. "I feel sadness and guilt for an event that cannot be changed. I feel grief and sorrow for that which I have lost. And I feel angry and envious of a life which I cannot have… I feel jealousy of a friendship I will never have… And I am ashamed."

Spock suddenly moves slamming his hands down on the table in front of him leaving to dents in its surface.

"I feel rage and fear," Spock slams his hands down onto the surface of the table again. "I cannot control my emotions. I feel fear and disgust."

)o(

Jim takes a deep breath as he leans against a wall hidden deep within engineering. Most of the crew didn't even know this part of engineering existed, as it was only ever engineers who came down this far and that was only when repairs needed to be done. Looking round Jim slowly crouched down and runs a hand over his injured ankle.

He knew it wasn't broken, if he'd broken when he fell he wouldn't have made it this far. It was just a bad sprain, but he wasn't making it any better by running around on it. He could almost hear McCoy yelling at him for getting himself into this kind of situation. Looking up at the walkways above him, Jim tries to think of what he should do next.

Spock was probably on his way down to engineering right now, but with Ben running around Jim couldn't afford to get caught. He was injured and Ben seemed set on killing him, which wasn't a good mix… But if he stayed where he was hiding, he wouldn't be able to help Spock restart the engines.

Jim shut his eyes for a second, before straightening up. The only way he was going to make it back to where he needed to be was to climb through engineering. Jim was fairly sure Ben was going to be sticking to the floor and walkways and it'd also keep him hidden from sight. But with a sprained ankle, it was going to be risky.

Another fall would be more than enough to break the already damaged ankle.

He was going to have to risk it though. And as he takes a step forward, Ben suddenly appears from the shadows, wielding a metal pipe. Jim ducks backwards and only just misses being struck, but it causes him to lose his balance and before he has a chance to get back to his feet, Ben is upon him again and Jim only just manages to roll out the way in time.

"Ben!" Jim yells as he forces himself to his feet. "You have to listen to me!"

"I'm the Captain," Ben answers. "Nobody tells me what to do! And I certainly won't take orders from a pretender!"

Jim tried not to let that remark hurt him, but he couldn't help but get flashbacks to his time at the academy. He'd always laughed it off at the academy, after all, why did their opinions matter? But it hurt a lot coming from someone who he cared about and was friends with.

"You don't mean that," Jim said, as he forced to duck out the way again. "It'd just the illness. You need to fight it Ben. You need to snap out of it!"

Ben just smirks and laughs as Jim stumbles and falls to the floor.

"The truth hurts, doesn't it?" Ben laughs as he raises the pipe above his head.

"Ben!" Jim pleads with him as he begins to drag himself backwards across the floor, away from Ben. "I'm not lying to you. Please, don't do this."

Ben just laughed and bought the pipe down. For a moment Jim's vision turns white from the pain before his vision begins to blur and he falls backwards flats on the floor. It was like he was drunk and everything around him was going in and out of focus. He barely registered Ben had kneeled down beside him and was now reaching a hand towards him.

Jim jumps and tries to jerk backwards as Ben grabs his face and tilts in to the side. He grins at whatever it is he sees. He lets go of Jim face and gets to his feet and twirls the metal pipe in his hands and Jim gaze is drawn to the end covered in reflective red liquid.

"Sweet dreams," Ben's voice echoes around his head as his vision blacks out.

)o(

 **Hey, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Until next time,**

 **Blessed be,**

 **TreeOfLife1997.**


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter Nine:

Sulu's eye snap open and he blinks for a moment as his eyes adjust to light of the medical bay.

"I was on the bridge," Sulu said as Doctor McCoy approaches him. "Hey Doc, what am I doing here?"

"We've isolated it," Doctor McCoy turns to Nurse Chapel. "Start preparing the serum."

"What's happening, Doctor?" Sulu asks as she watches Nurse Chapel hurry away.

"It's the water," Doctor McCoy explains, checking Sulu's vitals. "Somehow on the planets' surface, the water changed to a complex chain of molecules. That's how we missed it. It passed from person to person through perspiration. Once in the bloodstream, it acted like alcohol, depresses the centres of judgement and self-control."

"What?" Sulu asks, confused. "Can I go? I'm alright, aren't I?"

McCoy rolls his eyes, "Yes, you can go."

And once McCoy releases the medical restraints, Sulu bolts out of the medical bay with the speed of a moving bullet.

"Kids," McCoy grumbles, before turning to the intercom. "McCoy to Kirk."

But he gets no answer.

"McCoy to Bridge," McCoy tries a different tactic.

" _Uhura here,_ " Uhura answers after a moment.

"Where's Jim?" McCoy demands.

" _He's still working down in engineering,_ " Uhura replies.

Growling to himself, McCoy cuts the connection and tries comm'ing Jim again, but once again he gets no reply.

"Damn it!" McCoy mutters to himself, as he picks up a hypo and medical kit before heading towards the medical bay doors.

"Nurse Chapel," He calls over his shoulder. "I'm going to find the Captain. Report any changes and start distributing the vaccines."

"Yes, Doctor," Nurse Chapel replies.

It doesn't take McCoy long to reach Engineering and much to his annoyance there's no sign of Jim or anyone else for that matter. Walking through engineering, McCoy takes in the damage. How had the infected crewman been bake to do so much damage? He wasn't an engineer, far from it in fact, but even he could tell it was going to take a while for everything to be fixed and for a moment McCoy felt an ounce of pity for Scotty.

He'd only been off duty for a few days and his department was in ruins.

"Jim, where are you?" McCoy hisses to himself. "You can never make it easy on me, can you?"

McCoy carried on walking, heading deeper into the bowels of engineering.

)o(

A buzzing noise near Jim's ear has him groaning in annoyance and he tried to roll away from the sound. It was too early in the morning for his, he just wanted a few more minutes sleep before he had to get up and start his day. Only for him to sit bolt upright a moment later as the memories of what happened flashed through his mind.

He quickly pulled himself free of the hand on his shoulder and backed off quickly thinking it was Ben. Jim reached up and gripped the side of his head as a wave of dizziness washed over him and he groaned again as his stomach rolled uncomfortably and bile rose in his throat.

"God damn it, Jim!" A voice exclaims. "Can't you keep still for one god damn second!?"

Jim turned his head and looked at McCoy.

"Bones?" Jim questioned.

"Who else would I be? The sugar plum fairy?" McCoy growled at him as he reached for Jim's head.

"Hey! Ow!" Jim exclaimed jumping back the best he could. "That hurt!"

"Oh don't be such a baby," McCoy almost smiles as he reaches for Jim's head again. "You've got a mild concussion, so I want you down in sickbay as soon as this is all over. Are we clear? Because if you don't, I'll hunt you down and drag you there myself!"

"Yeah, yeah," Jim mutters, reaching up to touch the stitching holding the now smallish cut closed on the side of his head.

"Don't touch that," McCoy snaps at him, knocking his hand away. "I'm not stitching it back together if you mess it up."

Jim just stares at McCoy for a moment, "Yes, _mother_."

"Oh, and one more thing," McCoy said and Jim didn't like the look in McCoy's eyes.

"What?" Jim asks wearily.

The only answer Jim got was McCoy jabbing a hypo in his neck.

"What the hell, Bones!?" Jim yelps jumping back and rubbing his now sore neck.

McCoy just raised an eyebrow at him before packing away his medical kit.

"What are you waiting for?" McCoy asks. "Go find the hobgoblin so we can get the hell out of here!"

"Right," Jim mutter and quickly got to his feet. "Is he still down in the medical bay?"

"What?" McCoy asks. "Why would the hobgoblin be down in my medical bay?"

"Because I sent him down there to help you," Jim answers.

"Why would that help me?" McCoy questions.

Jim just rolls his eyes, it was pretty clear McCoy hadn't seen him… So what had happened to Spock and where was he now?

"I'll see you later, Bones," Jim calls over his shoulder as he hurries away to look for Spock.

"You bet your ass I will," McCoy yells after him.

)o(

Captain's Log: Supplemental

 _Doctor McCoy has found a cure to the space madness and he and the rest of the medial team are slowly working their way through the crew. But at the moment I have more important things to worry about. No one has seen or heard from Spock since I sent him down to sickbay to help Doctor McCoy… Lieutenant Uhura has been trying, desperately, to make contact with him but she hadn't had any luck so far. If I don't find Spock soon, there won't be enough time left to restart the ship…_

)o(

"Spock!" Jim explains as he finally tracks Spock down. "Where have you been? What happened?"

"My mother," Spock mutters. "I could never tell her I loved her… And now it is too late to ever tell her."

"We've got four minutes," Jim said. "Maybe five until this ship is beyond saving."

"An Earth woman," Spock continues as if he hadn't heard Jim. "Living on a planet where love and emotion, is bad taste."

"We've got to risk a full-power start," Jim explains. "The engines were shut off. We don't have time to regenerate them. Spock! Are you listening to me? We've got to risk a full-power start!"

"I respected my father, our customs," Spock continues to mutter. "I was ashamed of my Earth blood…"

"Spock!" Jim yells at him. "Listen to me!"

Spock finally looks up at Jim.

"Jim, when I feel friendship for you," Spock states. "I'm ashamed."

"You've got to listen to me! We need a form- Wait! What? You feel friendship for me? I thought you hated me?" Jim stares at Spock for a moments, before realising he'd gotten distracted from the matter at hand. "We can discuss this later! Right now, we need a formula, Spock! We've got to risk implosion!"

"It's never been done!" Spock suddenly seemed to snap out of it for a short period. "Understand, Jim. I've spent a whole lifetime learning to hide my feelings."

"We've got to risk implosion," Jim disagrees. "It's our only chance."

"It's never been done," Spock repeats, calmer this time.

"Don't say again, Science Officer!" Jim answers. "It's a theory. It's possible. We may go up in the biggest fire ball since the last sun in these parts exploded, but we've got a one in ten thousand chance!"

" _Bridge to Captain,_ " Uhura's voice sounds over the intercom.

"Kirk here," Jim answers.

"You have three and a half minutes left, Captain," Uhura informs him.

"Acknowledged," Jim replies. "Kirk out."

"I feel love," Spock mutters, staring at the intercom.

Jim grins at him and Spock quickly looks away ashamed of his feelings.

"Jim," Spock clears his throat. "There is an intermix formula. It's a theoretical relationship between time and antimatter. It's never been tested."

"Well," Jim grins. "It's about to."

)o(

 **Hey, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Until next time,**

 **Blessed be,**

 **TreeOfLife1997.**


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter Ten:

"Stand by to intermix," Spock said from where he was watching the Captain. "I'll call the formulae in from the Bridge."

Jim nods, "Well hurry up and get up there Spock we don't have long left."

" _Entering upper stratosphere, Captain,_ " Uhura informs him mover the intercom. " _Skin temperature now twenty one hundred seventy degrees._ "

"Scratch that," Jim mutters. "You're going to have to do it from here, Spock, we don't have time."

"Affirmative," Spock agrees. "Fuel temperature?"

"Level," Jim answers.

Spock moved over to the control panel, which was partly damaged but still working.

"Raise antimatter eight and forty degrees," Spock ordered.

Jim rolls his eyes but does as he's told.

"Spock," Jim suddenly realised something. "That'll take four minutes… We don't have that kind of time! We'll have to risk it. Bridge, we're ready. Set a hyperbolic course."

" _Direction, sir?_ " Uhura answers.

"Direction?" Jim shakes his head. "It doesn't matter. Any direction away from the planet! The way we came."

" _Course has been laid in, sir,_ " Uhura replies.

Jim nods to Spock, who types in the formula and activates the engines. For a second nothing happens and then the ship quakes and Jim all's loses his balance. A few of the nearby consoles sparks and frizzle but nothing explodes and the ship suddenly jumps to warp.

But the sudden movement shakes loose a metal bar from one of the walkways over Engineering and it crashes to the ground half a meter from where Jim's standing. Jim falls to the ground and covered his head as a second and third piece fall to the ground around him.

"Captain!" Spock calls taking a step towards where Jim had been standing only a moment before.

And if Jim hadn't known better, he would have said Spock had shouted. Getting back to his feet Jim dusts himself down and looks up at where the metal had fallen from. Scotty definitely wasn't going to be happy about this.

"Are you alright, Captain?" Spock asks.

Jim nods, "Are you?"

Spock raises an eyebrow.

"Yeah," Jim mutters. "Stupid question… Bones, I mean Doctor McCoy has found a cure. You'll be back to normal in no time… But if you ever want to talk about it, my door is always open so to speak."

Spock just raised his other eyebrow in reply.

)o(

"How'd it go?" McCoy asks as Jim and Spock step onto the bridge.

"Obviously, we were successful," Spock answers. "The engines imploded."

Before McCoy had a chance to answer Sulu glances over his at Jim.

"Captain," Sulu sounded worried. "My velocity gauge is off the scale."

"Engine power went off the scale as well," Spock nods to himself. "We're now travelling faster than is possible for normal space."

"Checked elapsed time, Mister Sulu," Jim walks over to his chair and sits down.

"My chronometer's running backwards, sir," Sulu answers.

"Time warp," Jim mutters, staring straight ahead at view screen. "We're going backward in time. Helm, begin reversing power. Slowly!"

"Helm answering, sir," Sulu informs him. "Power reversing."

"We're back to normal time, Captain," Spock said from where he'd moved over to his station.

"Engines ahead," Jim orders. "Warp one."

"Warp one, sir," Sulu confirms.

"Mister Spock," Jim turns in his char to look at Spock.

"Yes, Captain," Spock answers.

"The time warp," Jim questions. "What did it do to us?"

"We've regressed in time seventy one hours," Spock stares at the data coming through at his station. "It is now three days ago, Captain. We have three days to live over again."

"Not the same last three days, hopefully," Jim mutters, thinking back to all the chaos that had happened the since they'd started the mission to survey Psi 2000.

"This does open some intriguing prospects, Captain," Spock turns his attention to Jim. "Since the formula worked, we can go back in time, to any planet, any era."

Jim stares at Spock for a moment.

They'd already seen the consequences of changing the past and all the damage it had caused. But what of they could save Vulcan? No doubt Spock was thinking the same thing… They could go back in time and save an entire planet! They could save millions of people.

He could save his dad…

But then what would happen to them? Jim glances around the bridge. They were all who they are because of those events… If they went back and changed them, they'd be changing themselves and the chances were they wouldn't have a future to return to.

They'd be like Ambassador Spock… Lost in time. Trapped in a universe that wasn't his own, only to be reminded everyday of all he had lost.

"Maybe we'll risk it someday, Mister Spock," Jim smiles slightly. "Resume course to our next destination, Mister Sulu."

"Course laid in, Captain," Sulu glances over his shoulder.

"Punch it," Jim orders.

)o(

Jim watches as McCoy walks across the room and shuts himself in his office, causing Jim to frown slightly. The last day had clearly taken its toll on the doctor and why wouldn't it? For once the entire fate of crew hadn't rested on Jim's shoulders and the decisions he made, but rather on Doctor McCoy and his team's ability to find a cure.

But before Jim can even think about moving and going after McCoy, the sock bay doors slid open and Sulu enters, looking slightly nervous. He catches sight of Jim and his eyes widen. Jim raises an eyebrow at him and grins. Sulu quickly walks over to him.

"Anything I can do for you, Sulu?" Jim asks as Sulu approached him.

"I wanted to apologise," Sulu said, before laughing nervously.

"Apologise?" Jim questions.

"Yeah," Sulu laughs nervously again.

"What for?" Jim asks, resting back on the biobed and watching Sulu as he squirms nervously.

"My actions… Were inexcusable," Sulu explains. "I abandoned my post on the bridge in a time of crisis and disobeyed an order from a senior officer."

"Sulu…" Jim sighs. "You don't have to apologise. It wasn't your fault."

"But, Captain-" Sulu protests.

"But nothing, Sulu," Jim cut him off. "It wasn't your fault… If I was to discipline every crewmember who'd disobeyed an order or acted against regulation, I'd be putting half the crew in the brig! Not to mention they were only acting that way because they'd been infected… Plus, it was actually quite funny seeing you run around the ship, shirtless, chasing crewmen whilst wielding a sword."

"I…" Sulu was speechless.

"I'm sure Ben is going to find it just as amusing as I did," Jim grins at Sulu as he picked up his PADD.

Jim held out the PADD, still grinning, and Sulu took it. He looked at the screen to see a video was ready to play on screen. It was a recording from the ship's surveillance camera's. After a moment of hesitation, Sulu clicks play.

" _Richelieu, beware!_ " Sulu watches himself on the screen, chasing crewman, shirtless, down the hallways of the ship with his fencing sword. " _Stand. No farther. No escape for you. You either leave this bois bloodied, or with my blood on your swords. Cowards!_ "

Sulu looks up at Jim.

"You can't send this to Ben," Sulu said, horrified.

"Too late," Jim grins. "I already sent it."

Sulu's jaw drops as he stares at Jim.

"Don't worry," Jim reassures him. "He already has it saved and I quote 'It'll be a great video to show the grandkids'."

Sulu just let out a nervous laugh.

)o(

Captain's Log: Supplemental

 _After the recent events, I can't help but worry about what future missions will hold for me and my crew… We've already lost far more than I would like and I can't help but feel responsible for their deaths. I am there Captain and it is my duty to keep my crew safe… I have failed. If this is what it takes to be Captain of the Enterprise, am I the right person… Maybe everyone else is right. Maybe I was promoted too soon. Maybe I should be sent back to the academy... Because I have no idea what I'm doing, I only know what I can do and members of my crew just keep dying. They need a Captain who can keep them safe, not a Captain who breaks very rule in the book and has no idea on how to Captain a ship correctly..._

)o(

 **Hey, I hope you enjoyed this story. Next up in this series is 'The Enemy Within', which will be posted in the next few weeks. Until next time,**

 **Blessed be,**

 **TreeOfLife1997.**


End file.
